Conventional food or beverage and condiment kits for on-the-go use include a container filled with food such as salad and a separate packet containing a condiment such as salad dressing. A user opens the salad dressing packets to dispense salad dressing throughout the container. Although convenient, these packets are cumbersome because they typically distribute the salad dressing over the top layers of the salad, often resulting in an uneven distribution of salad dressing throughout the container. Oftentimes, when a user reaches the bottom of the container after consuming most of the salad, there is not enough salad dressing for the bottom layers because the majority of the salad dressing has already coated the upper layers.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,386,443 to Szczerbinski discloses a combination food and condiment dispenser which provides a compartment for ketchup, or a similar topping, clipped to the top of a French fry container.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,302,268 to Michaeli discloses a salad container having an insert chamber for salad dressing. The salad dressing is injected into the container at the top of the salad. This does not provide even distribution of the salad dressing through the salad because the dressing is concentrated towards the upper portion of the container.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,425 to Plone discloses a dispensing stick for dispensing a substance into a container. The stick is combined with a dispensing lid for convenience.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2009/0008274 discloses a food container having a chamber for separating a condiment packet from the food and dispensing the contents of the packet by engaging a spring activated chamber that controls the alignment of the packet with the container. The chamber includes a plurality of openings that align with openings in the packet to controllably release the contents of the packet through the openings in the chamber wall.
Although the above inventions are useful for convenience and combining condiments with food items, a need exists for evenly distributing condiments, toppings, or additives throughout a container having a food or beverage. There is also a need for an economical and efficient apparatus of doing the same.